Just Finished Reading Essentialism by Greg McKeown

The 2014 book Essentialism by Greg Mckeown, college business major and head of his own leadership development company, promised yet another angle in the collage of self-improvement works I've read of late.  In it, he emphasizes that life and time spent in it is too precious, as is the space we live in...to clutter both with unwelcome commitments and stuff, which diminish our enjoyment and fulfillment.  Instead, we should learn how to say "no" to others when they try to commit us to activities and roles which are not high priorities in our lives.  Likewise, items that we may like but don't hold in exceptionally high regard should be disposed of...McKeown suggests that we ask ourselves if the stored item in question is something that we would spend money today to obtain.  I think the author hit upon a sensitive point with me as I have both a lot of junk I need to get rid of...and saying no to others can be rankling and, as he stated, be partly based on a fear that it would damage the relationship if I refused the request: after all, that movie producer in The Godfather didn't come out too well from his refusal.  So the standards for keeping things as well as agreeing to future commitments need to be very high, with "no" being the default option...that's a hard pill to swallow. Yet in order to avoid future resentment and repercussions, it just might be a necessary one.  So in spite of Greg McKeown emphasizing the need for both play and adequate, high-quality sleep as very essential in our lives, I found his points on possessions and time commitments to be quite a challenge for me, meaning that this book is a "keeper" (actually, that means I'll just check it out from the library often)...